On Monday May 5, the JFA Premier Cup 2014 supported by NIKE had its final day of the event and the match between Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Junior Youth (representing Chugoku Region / Hiroshima) and Kashiwa Reysol U-15 (representing Kanto region’s 3rd slot / Chiba).

Before the match Hiroshima players wearing purple made a huddle and fired themselves up with enthusiastic shouts. On the other hand Kashiwa in yellow jerseys quietly got their concentration ready for the match. Although it was raining unfortunately, the attendance of 850 was in the stand. With plenty of cheers for both teams, the match saw a kick-off.

It was going to be the second title for either team. In the first half, Kashia showed their passing football while Hiroshima put quick defensive pressure led by heated directions from Head Coach Sawada Kentaro. At the 11th minute, Hiroshima created an opportunity to attack from their strong defence. The picked up the ball and connect passes ahead before Akehi Tomohiro received it in the penalty area from Kawamura Takumu. Akehi calmly directed it to the left corner of the goal for the first goal for Hiroshima. As Head Coach Sawada recalled after the match, saying “In the final, getting the first goal of the match was the key. It was big for us to do just that.” Hiroshima started controlling the tempo of the match. 10 minutes later, they acquired a free kick and Okano Shuta kicked a floater up to the goal area. Then nobody failed to make a contact but it just went into the goal to give Hiroshima 2-0 lead. Okano said after the match “I practiced it in the training. I didn’t need anybody to touch that.” Just as he wanted, Hiroshima widened the lead.

As Hiroshima kept leading its way, Kashiwa’s captain Tanaka Riku led the comeback attempt. “I told other guys that we just should play as calmly as we usually play even after losing goals.” Tanaka recalled ater the match. But Kashiwa couldn’t create decisive moments with a slippery pitch preventing Kashiwa from controlling the ball. Hiroshima’s defence, which hadn’t allowed a single goal in the previous four matches, constantly gets in the way of Kashiwa as well. Finally, the match saw its finish with the score still being 2-0. With the whistle, Kashiwa players fell to their knees in disappointment as Hiroshima began their celebrations together with players on the sideline. It was the championship after fighting through touch matches, they certainly expressed their emotions.

As the result, Hiroshima with the second national title after the first in 2003, advance to “Manchester United Premier Cup World Finals”. Hiroshima’s Senba Taishi received the honour of the MVP. He told he was “embarrassed” when his name was called in the ceremony, but he already looks ahead with his new goal in mind, saying “I try not to be cocky. I will keep doing my 100% and more even in the practice every day. We want to be one of the top four teams in the world tournament at least.” Omiya Ardija Junior Youth (representing Kanto region’s 2nd slot / Saitama) and Albirex Niigata U-15 (representing Hokushinetsu region / Niigata) received the Fair Play Award.

Comments from Head Coaches and Players

SAWADA Kentaro, Head Coach (Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Junior Youth)
All of our players worked so hard. It was fortunate for us to score those goals, and it gave us extra boost. Players knew that they would win the match as long as they kept working hard. And they finally came to the point where they could say with five more minutes of playing hard, they could win the match. I think all those things drove them to keep fighting. I said to them “If you leave everything you have on the pitch, win or lose you will end this match with good tears.” I think it was a very difficult job for them, but they worked so hard. In the world tournament, I hope we can play as many intense matches against world’s greatest clubs as possible.

NAKAMARU Daiki (Sanfrecce Hiroshima F.C Junior Youth)
We knew that winning this match would make us the best team in Japan, so it made us motivated to keep running until the end. I personally played in all matches, so it was tough for me. But I have trained for this, so it didn’t stop me from playing hard. We were one united team and we never gave it up. At the award ceremony, we realized that “we became the best team in the country.” In the world tournament, we want to do everything we can at this point and get wins.

SAKAI Naoki, Head Coach（Kashiwa Reysol U-15）
It has been a great experience throughout the tournament to play against best teams in regions we normally don’t play against. This experience made me see where our team is now. Our goal was to advance to the world tournament and to experience the elite clubs in the world. It’s my fault as head coach. We will review what we didn’t do well including what I did wrong as a head coach. I think opportunities like this will come along again, so from tomorrow we will set our new goals and start working hard again.

TANAKA Riku（Kashiwa Reysol U-15）
It was our first national tournament. There were many great teams. There were things we did well against those teams, and also there were things we didn’t do well. Before the final, we said to each other “Now that we are here at this stage, it’s all about our heart and will to win.” But I think their will to win was stronger than ours. It’s disappointing that we couldn’t play the way we wanted. I think there will be chances to try again. So we will do more practices and next time we will be the best. After the match when we stood face to face against our supporters, I felt bad for them, but I really appreciate that they supported us until the end.

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